Humidifiers



Nov. 30, 965 R. w. WEATHERSTON ETAL 3,220,707

HUMIDIFIERS Original Filed May 8, 1961 United States Patent 3,220,707 HUMIDIFIERS Richard W. Weatherston and George S. Marshall, St. Paul, Minn., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Fram (Iorporation, East Providence, R.I., a corporation of Rhode Island Continuation of application Ser. No. 108,631, May 8, 1961. This application Apr. 28, 1964, Ser. No. 363,091

3 Claims. (Cl. 26122) The present application is a continuation of the copending application, now abandoned, Serial No. 108,631, filed May 8, 1961, by the present joint applicants, Richard W. Weatherston and George S. Marshall, entitled, Humidifiers.

This invention relates to an improvement in humidifiers and deals particularly with an extremely effective humidifying device which will distribute moisture vapor into the air.

An object of the present invention resides in the provision of a humidifier which includes a foraminous frame which acts to support a cylindrical blanket of material such as urethane foam. A means is provided for distributing water to the foam so that the cylindrical blanket is moistened. Means is provided for circulating air through the blanket in a manner to cause the air to increase in moisture vapor content.

A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a humidifier including a cylindrical sleeve-like blanket of the type described which acts as a means of separating impurities such as calcium or the like from the water. As the water evaporates, the impurities are deposited on the blanket. With blankets of most types, the pores of the material would soon be clogged up with the impurities, making it necessary to change the blanket in order to restore the usefulness of the device. We have found that when the blanket is made of urethane foam, it may be merely slipped from position, and the impurities may be rinsed out, the foam being flexed as it is rinsed to loosen the impurities.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a humidifier including a funnel-like rotor having its lower end immersed in water, and a motor for rotating the rotor about its axis. Liquid is drawn up through the rotor in a thin film, and is thrown outwardly against the blanket by centrifugal force, causing the blanket to be effectively moistened. A coaxial fan acts to drive air downwardly about the periphery of the rotor, the air being driven through the blanket to pick up moisture therefrom.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a humidifier of the type described embodying a sleeve-like encircling blanket of urethane having a relatively coarse porous structure so that air may pass therethrough without excessive difiiculty. A relatively short ring-shaped blanket encircles the upper periphcry of the first blanket, this short outer blanket having a relatively fine porous structure. This fine upper blanket encircles the area of the blanket against which the water is forced and prevents the excessive moisture from being forced through the blanket and insures a relatively even concentration of water throughout the remainder of the inner blanket.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and drawings.

In the drawings forming a part of the specification,

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view through the humidifier, showing the general arrangement of parts therein.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view through the apparatus, the position of the section being indicated by the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view through the humidifier, the position of the section being indicated by the line 33 of FIG. 1.

The humidifier A is normally used in an air duct through which the air is circulated and may, as an example, be used in a return air duct through which air is circulated to an air heater. Obviously, the humidifier could be used in other environments.

The humidifier A includes a foraminous frame which is shown as including a series of vertically spaced axially aligned circular rings 10 which are held in vertically spaced relation by angularly spaced wire rod members 11. Four of the members 11 extend below the level of the others to provide angularly spaced legs 12 having outwardly turned feet 13. The feet 13 may be enclosed in sockets 14 of rubber or the like. The remaining upright members 11 are provided with outwardly turned lower ends 15 which support a lower ring 16 which is of slightly greater diameter than the rings 10.

The upper ends of the upright members 11 are provided with inwardly turned upper ends 17 which are arranged on a common plane, and which are held in proper relation by an inner ring 19 which is of substantially smaller diameter than the ring 10. Certain of the inturned ends 17 extend inwardly beyond the inner ring 19 and are provided with looped ends 20 which are designed to accommodate motor mounting bolts 21 which extend downwardly in parallel relation from the casing of the drive motor 22. Resilient washers 23 encircle the motor mounting bolts 21, and cushion the motor support. The motor is held in place by nuts 24 on the bolts 21.

A sleeve 25 of imperforate metal or the like is secured to the inner surface of the frame at the upper end thereof. A motor shaft 26 extends downwardly from the motor 22, and acts as a support for the hub 27 of a fan 29, the fan including a series of angularly spaced blades. The fan 29 is positioned inwardly of the imperforate sleeve 25 and accordingly the sleeve prevents air from being blown radially from the fan and directs the air entering through the open top of the support downwardly into the interior of the cage-like body. A second hub 30 is mounted upon the motor shaft 26 below the fan hub 27. The hub 30 supports a series of radially extending spider arms 31. A funnel-like shell 32 is secured at its large diameter upper end 33 to the arms 31 by means of bolts 34 or other suitable fastening means. The small diameter lower end 35 of the cone 32 includes a short central partition 36 extending vertically therein for a short distance. The cone 32 extends axially with respect to the motor shaft 26 and rotates in unison therewith.

A cylindrical breaker ring 37 encircles the upper end of the cone 32, this ring 37 extending slightly above and slightly below the level of the upper end of the cone. The ring 37 is provided with a continuous series of vertical slots 39 through which the water thrown outwardly by the cone must pass. This ring 37 thus breaks up the water being flung outwardly by centrifugal force and prevents the water from traveling outwardly in a steady stream. As indicated in FIGURE 2 of the drawings, the breaker ring 37 is supported by a series of angularly spaced bracket arms 40 which are attached at their inner ends to the ring 37 and which have looped outer ends 41 which are bent to encircle certain of the vertical frame members 11 and which are clamped thereto by clamping bolts 42, which extend across the looped ends.

A sleeve-like blanket 43 of urethane foam having a relatively coarse pore structure encircles the wire rod frame throughout the major portion of the height thereof and generally from the lower extremity of the fan encircling imperforate ring 25 to the lower-most ring 16.

Urethane foam is a colloquial term for a readily available commercial material consisting of a flexible foam-like mass of polyurethane, porous or air-permeable because of tiny connecting openings at the surfaces and in the interior of the mass between the individual cells or bubbles comprising the foam. I

A relatively short cylindrical sleeve 44 of urethane having a relatively fine pore structure encircles the upper portion of the blanket 43 outwardly of the breaker ring 37. This outer ring 44 prevents the water being thrown outwardly from the cone from being forced directly through the upper portion of the inner blanket 43, and in effect forms a reservoir for excess water. As a result, the water drains downwardly through the porous blanket from top to bottom thereof. The lower end of the blanket is designed to extend below the level of water in a water supply pan 45 in which the body of the humidifier is positioned. A float device 46 controls the water level 47 through the operation of a valve 49 which controls the flow of fluid from a water supply line 50. The valve and float is preferably secured to the lower end of the supporting frame by a suitable bracket 51.

The operation of the apparatus is believed obvious from the foregoing description. The device is placed in the open-topped pan 45 and the water supply is connected to provide a desired level of Water in the pan. The motor 22 is then operated, rotating the fan 29 and cone 32. Rotation of the cone causes water to be drawn upwardly along the inner walls of the cone 32, and the water is flung outwardly by centrifugal force at the upper end of the cone.

The water is broken up by passage through the breaker ring 37 and is thrown against the inner surface of the blanket 43. The water is prevented from traveling quickly through the upper portion Of the blanket by the encircling outer blanket 44 which tends to absorb excess water. The water gradually drains downwardly through the blanket, and is picked up by air forced downwardly from the open top of the device and outwardly through the blanket.

It will be noted that all incoming air must pass downwardly through the spray existing in the annular space surrounding the breaker ring 37 before it can travel outwardly through the porous blanket which is wet by the spray. i

As the water evaporates, the impurities such as calcium salts and the like are deposited upon the blanket.

In order to clean the blanket, it may be removed and rinsed out, the soft flexible blanket being flexed during the operation to detach the particles of minerals from the blanket. Due to the nature of the material forming the blanket, the blanket may be returned to its original state in an extremely short period of time. Although a blanket of other material having similar characteristics .of porosity and flexibility might be used, urethane foam is preferred because of its superior capability for being cleansed readily, as above described. Long effective operating life under the conditions here described also recommends this material as the porous blanket for apparatus according to this invention.

In accordance with the patent statutes, we have described the principles of construction and operation of our improvement in humidifiers, and while we have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, we

desire to have it understood that changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of our invention.

We claim:

1. A humidifier including a foraminous upright cylindrical frame,

a pan-containing liquid underlying said frame and enclosing the lower end thereof, means supporting said frame in said pan to extend upwardly therefrom,

a motor, means mounting said motor on the upper portion of said frame,

said motor having a drive shaft extending axially downwardly therefrom into said frame,

an imperforate funnel-shaped hollow rotor secured coaxially to said drive shaft within said frame and having its top and bottom ends open, with a large diameter top end located near the upper portion of said frame and a bottom small diameter end extending into liquid in said pan,

an elongated cylindrical sleeve-like blanket of porous material'supported by and encircling the outside of said frame, extending from the level of liquid in said pan to a level above the top end of said funnelshaped rotor and adapted to be moistened by liquid directed outwardly from the large diameter end of said rotor upon rotation thereof, said blanket being removable from the frame by slipping it endwise therefrom,

a foraminous breaker ring supported by said frame within and spaced from said frame and blanket and encircling the top end of said rotor in the path of liquid thrown outwardly therefrom for breaking up such liquid,

fan means for directing air downwardly into said frame between said breaker ring and frame and outwardly through said blanket, and

a short cylindrical sleeve-like blanket member of porous material shorter than said elongated cylindrical blanket, carried by and encircling said elongated cylindrical blanket, located adjacent the top'of said elongated blanket and extending outwardly of the elongated blanket and adapted to be moistened by liquid directed from the top end of said rotor and broken up by said breaker ring, said short sleevelike member preventing excess liquid from being forced through that area of said elongated blanket by absorbing said excess liquid.

2.'The structure of claim 1 in which said elongated cylindrical blanket and said short cylindrical member are made of flexible porous urethane foam.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which said elongated cylindrical sleeve-like blanket is of relatively coarse porous structure so that air may pass therethrough without excessive difliculty and said short cylindrical sleeve-like member is of relatively fine porous structure to impede the free passage of liquid therethrough.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 20,341 4/1937 Lea 261- X 2,399,862 5/ 1946 Feldermann 261-91 X 2,600,926 6/1952 Rudd 261-97 X 2,771,283 11/1956 Eranosian 261-91 X 2,826,398 3/1958 Norris 261-91 X 2,966,960 1/ 1961 Rochlin 55-522 X 3,034,772 5/1962 Schulz 261-100, X 3,151,188 9/1964 Wcatherston et al. 261-29 FOREIGN PATENTS 359,042 10/1931 Great Britain. 678,477 9/1952 Great Britain.

HARRY B. THORNTON, Primary Examiner. RONALD R. WEAVER, Examiner. 

1. A HUMIDIFIER INCLUDING A FORAMINOUS UPRIGHT CYLINDRICAL FRAME, A PAN CONTAINING LIQUID UNDERLYING SAID FRAME AND ENCLOSING THE LOWER END THEREOF, MEANS SUPPORTING SAID FRAME IN SAID PAN TO EXTEND UPWARDLY THEREFROM, A MOTOR, MEANS MOUNTING SAID MOTOR ON THE UPPER PORTION OF SAID FRAME, SAID MOTOR HAVING A DRIVE SHAFT EXTENDING AXIALLY DOWNWARDLY THEREFROM INTO SAID FRAME, AN IMPERFORATE FUNNEL-SHAPED HOLLOW ROTOR SECURED COAXIALLY TO SAID DRIVE SHAFT WITHIN SAID FRAME AND HAVING ITS TOP AND BOTTOM ENDS OPEN, WITH A LARGE DIAMETER TOP END LOCATED NEAR THE UPPER PORTION OF SAID FRAME AND A BOTTOM SMALL DIAMETER EXTENDING INTO LIQUID IN SAID PAN, AN ELONGATED CYLINDRICAL SLEEVE-LIKE BLANKET OF POROUS MATERIAL SUPPORTED BY AND ENCIRCLING THE OUTSIDE OF SAID FRAME, EXTENDING FROM THE LEVEL OF LIQUID IN SAID PAN TO A LEVEL ABOVE THE TOP END OF SAID FUNNELSHAPED ROTOR AND ADAPTED TO BE MOISTENED BY LIQUID DIRECTED OUTWARDLY FROM THE LARGE DIAMETER END OF SAID ROTOR UPON ROTATION THEREOF, SAID BLANKET BEING REMOVABLE FROM THE FRAME BY SLIPPING IT ENDWISE THEREFROM, A FORAMINOUS BREAKER RING SUPPORTED BY SAID FRAME WITHIN AND SPACED FROM SAID FRAME AND BLANKET AND ENCIRCLING THE TOP END OF SAID ROTOR IN THE PATH OF LIQUID THROWN OUTWARDLY THEREFROM FOR BREAKING UP SUCH LIQUID, FAN MEANS FOR DIRECTING AIR DOWNWARDLY INTO SAID FRAME BETWEEN SAID BREAKER RING AND FRAME AND OUTWARDLY THROUGH SAID BLANKET, AND A SHORT CYLINDRICAL SLEEVE-LIKE MEMBER OF POROUS MATERIAL SHORTER THAN SAID ELONGATED CYLINDRICAL BLANKET, CARRIED BY AND ENCIRCLING SAID ELONGATED CYLINDRICAL BLANKET, LOCATED ADJACENT THE TOP OF SAID ELONGATED BLANKET AND EXTENDING OUTWARDLY OF THE ELONGATED BLANKET AND ADAPTED TO BE MOISTENED BY LIQUID DIRECTED FROM THE TOP END OF SAID ROTOR AND BROKEN UP BY SAID BREAKER RING, SAID SHORT SLEEVELIKE MEMBER PREVENTING EXCESS LIQUID FROM BEING FORCED THROUGH THAT AREA OF SAID ELONGATED BLANKET BY ABSORBING SAID EXCESS LIQUID. 